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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29771919">belle morte e belle vita</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/naihka/pseuds/naihka'>naihka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>League of Legends</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and light Gore, Drabble, Gen, Jhin being a terrible one, Like half of the story is set in the Rift, Murder, Music, Music-Induced Exhaustion, Oneshot, So this is hard to explain but, Sona being a great friend, Telepathy, Video Game Mechanics, lets get that out of the way, nothing too bad</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:09:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,522</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29771919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/naihka/pseuds/naihka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>the virtuoso performs while the maven is the orchestra</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Sona Buvelle &amp; Khada Jhin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>belle morte e belle vita</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>probably ooc</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>A beautiful melody is a fitting backdrop to an even better performance</em>, Jhin thought, smiling to himself as he opened an ornate, wooden case with a lotus flower etched into its face. He worked quietly and methodically, the dark of night making it slightly difficult to see. Fortunately, Piltover’s streetlights illuminated the balcony, as well as the space below.</p><p> Hidden in the plating of the case was his lotus traps, ready to be activated. He took one out and tossed it behind him, the flower blossoming in the doorway leading to the balcony. Sufficiently sure he wouldn’t be interrupted, he took out the parts to Whisper, near-lovingly putting his rifle together, before resting it on the rail of the balcony that overlooked the small musicale going on.</p><p>The stage below him was a thrust stage, lanterns dangling around the framework, illuminating the performer. On the stage, small jars have been placed by the audience – the jars containing little aether wisps that lit up blue as they flitted around. Jhin didn’t mind the music, and didn’t care about the performer, merely paying attention to the large crowd, where his target stood.</p><p>His target was a highly respected soldier in Noxus, who had aggravated a rather wealthy noble of a different country. Naturally, the only way to deal with frustration is to pay someone to get rid of the problem. It didn’t really matter to him.</p><p>Jhin readied his aim, peering through the scope at the crowd, searching for a man that fit the description given to the artist. He searched for a few seconds, rapidly becoming agitated until he found his target. Uncertainty arose, whispering, wanting a seat at the table.</p><p>
  <em>This is so impersonable. Sloppy, even. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Just one looks rushed. </em>
</p><p>He briefly entertained the idea of shooting three others – namely the others of obvious status in the crowd, and perhaps the performer. Discomfort bubbled up, making him discard the idea. This was the first contract that had been given him in quite a while, and to ruin this would be…unwise.</p><p>
  <em>It will still be beautiful.</em>
</p><p>He sighed, recollecting himself, flexing his hand and resting his finger over the trigger, observing his target standing still, unaware. He wasn’t dancing quite like the rest of the crowd, instead lightly swaying to the vivace tune being played.</p><p>Peering down the iron sights, Jhin aimed towards his target’s back, slowly pressing on the trigger.</p><p>And on cue, his audience is screaming.</p><p> </p><p>//</p><p> </p><p>“Can you <em>please </em>quit playing that song?!” Jhin growled, scowling harshly behind his mask at the maven floating behind him. He looked back at said maven briefly, who had paused her playing. “It’s distracting!”</p><p>Sona tilted her head slightly, lifting her hands from the etwahl. A distant voice spoke up in Jhin’s mind, clearly the maven. <em>‘ i cant help if i cant play ’, </em>she said curtly, irritated now that all of her songs seemed to bother the man.</p><p>Though, she wasn’t out of ideas – after a moment, she began to play again, a different version of the song of celerity. She had no name for it, but it’s effects seemed apparent when the minions in front of her slowed to a stop, before seemingly deciding to rest there. It was also clear the effect when Jhin swayed slightly, before snapping up.</p><p>“What is <em>that?</em>” he complained, while shooting a minion. “That’s possibly <em>worse.</em>” Sona stared blankly at him, unimpressed. <em>‘ thanks ’, </em>she replied curtly. It was dripping with sarcasm, earning a small, irritated noise from Jhin. “Why don’t you play that when they return?” ‘They’ of course being the two vastayans who seemed obsessed with eachother.</p><p>Sona raised an eyebrow but nodded. She was curious to see if it would have any practical use, a song like that. Of course, should it cause any adversity to her <em>oh-so-friendly</em> ally… it didn’t really matter to her.</p><p>Xayah, having recovered from a bullet to the head, stalked over toward the two, Rakan trailing her. She moved slowly, bird-like feet making no noise against the dirt. Her eyes glowed with hatred, her ears flattening as she got closer. Rakan put on a similar air, though it wasn’t nearly as convincing. Eyes trained on Jhin, Xayah killed minions until not a single one was between them.</p><p>Near instantly, she flung dagger after dagger at the virtuoso, who winced at the few he failed to dodge. He dug it out of his chest, admiring the feather for a moment, until it was ripped from his hands. Rakan took his chance, lunging forward and trying to launch Jhin, only to quickly realize he was stuck, his foot trapped in a bronze lotus trap. As the machinery swirled and clicked, Sona played her song of valor as Jhin sent four bullets at the poor vastayan, who split apart as the trap exploded. A golden feather floated to the ground, the pulsing magic within slowly fading to nothing.</p><p>Xayah seemed disappointed, but quickly recovered. Sona began playing the song from earlier, plucking the strings with careful consideration and watching the reaction from their unaware assailant. The vastayan lunged forward, sluggish and disoriented, the low strings undercutting any focus. She blinked, and lunged again, quickly moving backwards to avoid getting caught out. Sona continued playing until Xayah swayed and stumbled.</p><p><em>‘ are you not going to do anything ? ’ </em>Sona questioned, still playing.</p><p>Jhin tilted his head at the struggling Xayah, curious. He managed to stay fairly awake during the performance, intently watching while reloading Whisper. After an excruciating minute of the song, Xayah collapsed in a heap, the fight being drained away by exhaustion.</p><p>“Fascinating,” he commented, firing a magic-infused bullet into Xayah’s head.</p><p> </p><p>//</p><p> </p><p>The crowd was screaming. They backed away from the soldier, almost tripping over each other in their panic. Jhin moved out of sight as he packed up the rifle, though he listened intently to the chaos below. The performer continued playing, the music flowing beautifully as the screams only rose in intensity. He could hear the individual notes, each pluck of the strings. The music was low, slow, and made the ache of exhaustion creep into his bones, as well as the desire to curl up then and there and fall asleep.</p><p>It felt like nothing else existed but the music, and it took all of his strength to keep moving, to not succumb. His entire body slowed, though, and he felt the familiar discomfort as it continued. Eventually, the music stopped, leaving him breathless. He clicked the case containing Whisper closed, before looking over the balcony.</p><p>Sona stared up at him from the stage, impassive. The audience were all asleep, lying beside his victim. The soldier looked like one of the sleeping audience members, content and peaceful despite the blood pooling beneath his chest.</p><p>Well, and the magic-formed flower now carved into his back.</p><p>Sona seemed uncaring about the death, merely displeased about Jhin’s presence.</p><p>
  <em>‘ must you interrupt my performance ? ’ </em>
</p><p>“Interrupt <em>your </em>performance?” he questioned, scoffing. Resting his elbow on the rail, he explained, “You were the orchestra.” After a moment, Jhin added, “And the audience.” Sona seemed displeased, but ultimately decided not to question it further.</p><p><em>‘ i dont want to help you ’ </em>Sona announced, pondering whether to call the authorities, a stupid conflict that had a clear outcome. <em>‘ but do you want your name on this ? ’ </em></p><p>The contract he had gotten stated he remain anonymous. Granted, his work was hardly generic—he hated when people described it as such—but it could be passed off as a weak copycat. And that was a maybe. “…No,” Jhin answered, leaning further on the rail. “Why? What can <em>you </em>do?” he asked, curious, despite the near-mockery in his voice.</p><p><em>‘ this isnt an uncommon occurrence , jhin ’ </em>Sona explained, gently playing her etwahl, almost idly. <em>‘ ive seen many fall at my performances ’. </em>Her voice sounded pained, her heart aching as she saw images of officials who took their weekends off to see her performance. All of them soaked in their own blood or choking on it after a rogue assassin slit their throat. Every time, only she could see it.</p><p>“Hm. Sounds boring, merely watching someone’s play,” Jhin replied, callous. He disappeared from Sona’s view, before reappearing slightly beyond the sleeping crowd. He held the lotus trap from the doorway in his arms, the bronze petals glinting with moonlight. Sona plucked a string, the sound breaking the jars that held the aether wisps. They flitted upwards as she forced her etwahl to disappear. She stepped down from the stage, gently shaking a young Piltovian girl.</p><p>As Jhin walked away, he gently slipped off his mask, sliding the porcelain beneath his cloak. He idly rearranged the fabric, making it seem more like a proper mantle.</p><p><em>Another beautiful performance, </em>he mused. <em>This time with accompaniment. </em></p><p> </p><p>//</p><p> </p><p>This was it, the climax. The long-awaited battle after a passionate speech, the moment the music is at it’s most intense, the minutes—no, even seconds—where the audience is entranced with the story.</p><p>Sona played her song loudly, standing before the entire enemy base, plucking her etwahl with an incredible passion, the music flowing through the air. She closed her eyes as she played, wishing she could sing in that moment, if only to pour her heart out in a song that much more intensely. The music encompassed the entire space, the enemies struggling to move under the influence.</p><p>Her teammates were struggling as well, but they pushed forward. An explosion of debris near top lane announced Sett’s presence as he pushed through the music, punching the sluggish enemies with near-wild abandon, complimented by Katarina who cut down those out of his range. She swayed a bit more than anyone else though, genuinely tired, but that didn’t stop her from laughing as she tore through the enemy.</p><p>On the other side of the base, Evelynn stalked towards the vastayans and their jungler, nearly unaffected by the music, though her shadowed form was unstable. She charmed an enemy—Rakan, who had been on a hot streak until now—only to frown when he barely reacted. With a whine of unhappiness, she slit the vastayan’s throat, not wanting to savor the agony of a barely conscious wretch.</p><p>“Its no fun if they can’t feel!” Evelynn complained, mostly to Sona, who couldn’t hear her. Evelynn turned to Kayn, who had blue creeping up on his skin and his black hair floating behind him. He struggled against the music, sluggishly swinging his scythe at the demon who gently danced out of the way. She scratched deep wounds across his arms, only to sigh when, of course, he too didn’t react enough.</p><p>Before she could end him as swiftly as Rakan, Jhin sent a bullet through the assassin’s head, savoring the hateful glare from Evelynn, if only briefly. He glanced towards Xayah, who was sitting just past the Nexus, before breaking the turret that was just behind Kayn.</p><p>She stalked towards the two, ears flat next to her head. She was doing the best out of all of them, flinging daggers and recalling them with only the slightest amount of difficulty. Jhin sighed, glancing at Evelynn as she stepped backwards, her shadows shrouding herself and making her disappear. Jhin always wondered how that worked, shadows making an entirely lit person disappear. He wanted to use them for an art project.</p><p>He blinked as he felt a dagger land in his mask, Xayah laughing at the indent by the forehead. He ripped it out before launching a trap as he flung it back, his own knowledge of blades applying well. Xayah recalled the blade, not noticing the trap as it clicked into place, locking on to her foot as she stepped forward.</p><p>“Ah, fuck.”</p><p>Evelynn reappeared and stabbed Xayah quickly, sinking her lashers into her before ripping through her with her ultimate, all in a split second.</p><p>“I must say…” Evelynn began, only to cut herself off as Sona’s playing stopped. Jhin turned around only to sprint to the maven as Garen swung his sword at her. Evelynn took a moment, before flashing towards their direction, claws out and fangs bared.</p><p>Sona’s eyes shut as she turned her back to the sword, protecting her etwahl. The sword dug into her back, the majority of it hitting her bare flesh. Jhin scowled beneath his mask, tossing a trap beneath Garen and firing twice at him, watching the magic bullets dent the armor slightly. Evelynn darted behind him and sunk her lashers into the armor, the malleable form able to wedge itself into the armor, displacing it.</p><p>When she realized it was doing minimal damage, she leapt up onto Garen’s back, reaching up and raking her claws over his face. Her lashers stuck into the armor around his neck, misshaping and slicing through the metal. With a small scowl, Garen took his sword from Sona and began to swing in a circle, the momentum throwing off Evelynn. The demon flew from him, tumbling towards a tower—she scrambled up, half-hissing, half-screeching at the man.</p><p>Sett, done with his batch of enemies, charged towards Garen, who slashed at him, managing to wedge his sword in the half-vastayan’s side. Gritting his teeth, Sett punched the man in the chest, the force making Garen stumble backwards. Sett swore as he knelt, the wound revealing ribs and muscles.</p><p>Katarina grinned slightly as she ran towards Garen, taking the opportunity to step onto Sett’s back—which evoked another curse, this one far louder than the last—and leap to Garen, her daggers pointed downwards.</p><p>The soldier bats her aside with a shoulder, knocking her into Sett, the two of them landing beneath the turrets currently guarding the Nexus. Katarina swore, before feeling a bolt of flame go through her back. Sett fared the same, leaving Jhin and Evelynn alone with the bloodied, furious soldier.</p><p>After a moment, Jhin fired at Garen once, aiming for his head but missing as the latter dodged, swift despite the blood presumably in his eyes. The former furrowed his brows, moving out of the way when the Demacian charged at him. Evelynn leapt towards the soldier, tearing at the plates of armor. The virtuoso tossed his grenade, the maroon metal flying towards the distracted soldier. Evelynn, uncaring of what would happen to her, grabbed the grenade and crushed it against Garen’s head, the explosion knocking her off and leaving the soldier’s face scarred and burned. Near instantly, Jhin spun slightly as he fired off his fourth shot, the bullet hitting Garen dead-on.</p><p>Jhin sighed, closing his eyes briefly. Evelynn stalked closer, her shadowed form rippling and moving rapidly, watching the lotus trap explode inside the dead body. “How do you manage to have a trap in every kill?”</p><p>He paused, wondering for himself. After a moment, he replied, “Does it matter?” Evelynn raised an eyebrow slightly, before going to destroy the towers, now with poor minions taking the fire bolts. Jhin glanced back at Sona, who was cold and still, clutching her etwahl close to her chest. The former sighed, before destroying the towers alongside Evelynn, who took great joy in shattering the crystal just behind the towers.</p><p>//</p><p> </p>
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